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5 Sheets-Sheet 1.

E, H. GOTTRELL.

(No Model.)

PRINTING MACHINE.

Patented June 18, 1895.

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(No Model.) 5 SheetsSheet 2.

B. H. OOTTRELL.

PRINTING MACHINE.

No. 541,265. Patented June 18, 1895.

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: a H M w W as L. WWW: I n1- (No Model.) 5 Sheets-Sheet 3.

E. H. GOTTRBLL.

PRINTING MACHINE.

No. 541,265. Patented June 18, 1895.

(No Modl.) 5 Sheets--Sheet 5.

B. H. GOTTRELL. PRINTING MACHINE.

Patented June 18, 1895.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDGAR H. COTTRELL, OF STONINGTON, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO THE C. B. COTTRELL & SONS COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE AND NEW YORK, N. Y.

PRINTING-MACHINE.

FEECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 541,265, dated June 18, 1895.

Application filed September 29, 1894. Serial No. 524,420- No model.)

To all whom it neat concern:

Beitknown that I, EDGAR H. COTTRELL, of Stonington, in thecounty of New London and State of Connecticut, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Printing-Machines, of

which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to printing machines of the kind known as perfecting machines in which a tym'pan on the second impression 1o cylinder is automatically shifted while the said cylinder continues in motion between two successive printings, such shiftings being preferably to the extent or distance necessary to present an entirely fresh clean portion outside of the cylinder. Such provision as has been heretofore made for shifting the tympan to the extent hereinabove mentioned whilethe machine continued in motion, has been made without any interruption to the feeding of paper tothe machine or to the printing, butthat involved the necessity of effecting the shifting of the tympan with such extreme rapidity in a fast running machine that it has become a subject for consideration, with a view to increased speed of the machine, whether it would not be better to skip one printing every time it is desired to shift the tympan and by that means to obtain proper time to effect the shifting without injury to the tympan itself or to the shifting mechanism.

In a machine embodying the present improvement, the impression cylinder is so tripped and the feeding of the paper so interruptedeverytimethetympan has to be shifted 5 as to skip or omit one printing and so obtain ample time for the shifting.

I will proceed to describe my invention in detail and afterward point out its novelty in claims.

Figure 1 represents a side view of as much of a flat-bed perfecting printing-machine as is necessary to illustrate my invention. Fig. 2 represents a horizontal section taken in the line 2 2 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3, a transverse vertical section in the line 3 3 of Fig. 1, looking toward the right; Fig. 4 a transverse vertical section in the line 4 4 of Fig. 1,1ooking toward the right; Fig. 5, a transverse section in the line 5 5 of Fig. 1, looking toward the right.

Figs. 6, 7, 8, and 9 are profile views of cams which will be hereinafter described. Fig. 10

represents an end view of the second impression-cylinder, showing the shifting tympan and parts of its operating mechanism. Figs. 11 and 12 are views atright angles to each other of what is hereinafter termed the clutch mechanism.

A designates the framing, of the machine; A, the feeders platform; B, the feeding table; B the feeding cylinder; C, the first impression cylinder; C the second impression cylinder; F, the first type form; F, the sec ond type form, and D the delivery fly.

I is what is known as the side shaft, commonly used in flat bed cylinderprinting machines for operating certain parts of the machine, arranged in the usual way in bearings inside of one side of the framing, the said shaft being driven at the rate of one revolution to each sheet printed or to each operation of the machine, the cylinders C and C making each two revolutions to each complete revolution and operation of the machine. The driving of the cylinders and of the bed which carries the forms may be effected by gearing similar to that which is used in other flat bed' perfecting printing machines and therefore I have not thought necessaryto represent such gearing and indeed I have only represented the bed by a single line 10 which represents its face.

Above the side shaft I and parallel with it, there. is arranged in suitable bearings inside ofthe framing, a shaft J which I term the tripping shaft and which is to be driven by the said shaft 1- and for that purpose is geared therewith by gears T and U so proportioned that J may be caused to make one revolution for two revolutions of I, or in other words, one

revolution for every two complete revolutions or operations of the machine or for four revolutions of the cylinders C and Q This tripping shaft J carries several cams for performing the operations of setting the tympan shifting devices in action and of tripping the impression cylinders and feeding apparatus before said shifting action and keeping them tripped as required during said action. As these operations only take place at such times as may be desired after several printings, the driving gear T is fitted loosely to the side shaft I so that it may turn freely thereon at all other times, and a toothed clutch R is fitted to slide ona feather'on the said shaft for the purpose of engaging with corresponding teeth on thehub of the said gear, when the said shaft is required to operate, and of disengaging the said gear at other times. The teeth of the said clutch and hub respectively are made of such different sizes that the gear can only be engaged with the shaft at one point in their respective circumferences. The gearUis fast on the tripping shaft.

Q (Figs. 1, 2, 5, 11 and 12) is a lever swinging on a fixed fulcrum on the side framing A and having on its lower end a fork Q* which engages with the clutch R.

X is a pawl lever hung on a fixed fulcrum 12 on the side framing for the purpose of en-, gaging a-hook 13 on. the clutch lever Q and thereby holding and locking the clutch R out of engagement withthe gear T and leaving said gear inoperative upon the shaft J.

Q is a pushing spring applied to the clutch lever Q for the purpose of pushingthe clutch R into engagement with the gear-T and coupling the said gear with the side shaft I when the pawllever X is raised out of engagement.

with the hook .13 on the clutch lever.

P is a 03.111011 the tripping shaftJ for operating on the said lever Qto throw the clutch R out of engagement with .the gearT.

V and WV are whatI call tripping gears-.- The gear V is fast on the side shaftI and has affixed firmly to one side-of it atappet-l-l (see Fig.5) having a beveled end. Thegear Wis loose on the .trip pingshaftJand is fitted with a tappet- 15 which isfitted to slide radially in a guide .16, in the side oftthe said gear.. The outer end of the tappet 15 is beveled the reverse of=the outer end of the tappet 14., The

said tappet 15hasapplied to it aspring l7to force it outward from the shaft J. One ofthe tripping gears V and WV, which run together,-

has-one more tooth than the other, the number of teeth depending on the number of revolutions ofithe side shaft and corresponding number of operations of the machine it is intended to make and the numberof printings to be performed before the shiftingof the. In the-example represented the tym pan. shifting is to be performed once duringevery one hundred operations of the machine or at? ter every ninety ninth printing and therefore the gear Von the side shaft I has ninety-nine teeth and the gear W on-thetripping shaft J, one hundred teeth. At every one hundredth revolution of the gear V, the tappet 14 on the said gear meets the sliding tappet 15 on the gear W and pushes it'upward so farbut thismotion only continues to the extent of one revolution of the trippingshaft for at the end of one revolution the cam P byits action on the clutch lever Q, diseugages the clutch Rand liberates the gear '1. The hook 13 on the clutch lever then passes under and lifts the pawl lever, after which thelatter lever drops into the said hook and locks the clutch lever and keeps the clutch disengaged until the next operation of the-tappets14,l5 on the tripping wheels.

In order that the cam P may be made to escape from the lever Q after having thrown the .clutch out of engagement and thereby permit the spring Q to produce the re-engagement of the clutch at the proper time, the

said cam is not rigidly attached to the. shaft J butis so attached thereto that it.may turn The attachment camcomes in contact-with the roller pro-.

vided for it on the lever'Q which'is just be-i fore it is required to operate on the lever, the resistance which it meets with causesit to stop until the screws 50 reach the forward ends f the slots 51 and carry the cam forward till its most prominent point meets the roller on the lever and completes the move- ICO ment of the latter and efiects the disengage- 1 ment ofthe clutch. The cam then meeting with very little resistance is quickly turned forward on theshaft by the spring 52 far enough to leave the lever free to be operated by the spring Q to engage the clutch.

The'journal Iboxes a, a of the: cylinders have applied to them respectively the lifting rods 1), b and springs c, 0 common .to the cylinders of two revolution flat bed printing machines for lifting the said cylinders and the said rods have applied to them the usualyokes E, E and toggles G, G for depressing said cylinders for printing. These togglesG G2 are operated in the usual way by rock-shafts H, H? which are operated by gab hooks S, S carried by a lever 5* 8* which swings on a fixed pivot S, the said lever receiving motion through a rod S from a cam .S on a rotaryshaft S arranged transversely of the machine and driven in the usual manner, the operation of the said gab hooks being such, while the printing is regularly proceeded with, that the cylinders are depressed alternately one being raised-when the other is depressed.

For the purpose of lifting the. gab hooksl employ two rock-shafts Y Y arranged transversely to the machine in suitable bearings in the lower part thereof. These rock-shafts thereon a short distance, the cam itself being 4 4 a portion ,of a disk which: isv fitted loosely to may be and are represented as the same as have been commonly employed for operating the trip-at-will, the said rock-shafts being furnished respectively with lifting arms (1 d which are situated under the gab books as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The rock-shaft Y belonging to the first impression cylinder C is furnished with another arm 19 which is connected with the trip-at-will red O* and the rock-shaft Y belonging to the second impression cylinder C is furnished with an arm 20 which is connected by a rod 21 with an elbow lever 22 on the outside of the framing, the other arm of the said lever being connected with the trip-at-will rod 0 For the purpose of tripping the cylinders automatically at the times when it is desired to skip printing and to shift the tympan, the tripping shaft J is furnished with two cams, viz: one K (Figs. 1, 2 and at) for tripping the first impression cylinder 0 and one K (see Figs. 1, 2 and 3) for tripping the second impression cylinder C The yoke rod e of the cam K is connected with one of the arms f of the rockshaft Y and the yoke rod 6 of the cam K is connected with one of the arms f 0f the rockshaft Y The same cams K and K on the' tripping shaft and the same rock-shafts Y and Y which trip the two impression cylinders, trip at the same time the form rollers g g of the inking apparatus for the corresponding forms F F. The connections between the said rock-shafts and the frames of the form rollers consist respectively of levers h k (see Fig. 1) which are fulcrumed on the inside of the side framing, rods 1' i which connect the said levers at one end respectively with the two form roller carriages ZZ and rods jj which connect the other ends of the said levers with the arms f f of the respective rock-shafts Y and Y. The above described connections between the rock-shaft Y and the form roller carriage Z are shown in Fig. 3. There is also on the tripping shaft J, a cam L (see Figs. 1, 2, 4, and 6) for throwing the grippers of the feeding cylinder B out of operation at the times when the feeding is to be intermitted and the printing skipped for shifting the tympan, the said cam operating through the upright spindle 23 arranged in bearings 23* outside of the framing. Thisspindle 23 is furnished on its upper part with arms 24, 25, for drawing back the sliding pins 26, 27, provided in the upper part of the framing for operating the tumbler cam It (Fig. 1) of the feeding cylinder grippers, the said spindle being actuated by the said cam L (as shown in Fig. 2) through a connection between the yoke rod 28 of the cam and an arm 29 on the said spindle. The said spindle 23 and the pins 26, 27 and their connections do not, however, of themselves constitute parts of the present invention except as to their connection with the tripping shaft J, and as with that exception they are well understood, they need no further illustration or description here beyond saying that the ordinary means of operating-them by the side shaft I at the surrounds the said spindle and one end of which is fast to the spindle and the other to one of the bearings There is furthermore provided on the tripping shaft J, a cam L for drawing back and rendering inopera tive the sliding pin 33 (see Fig. 1) commonly provided for turning the tumbler cam Z of the gripper shaft of the second impression cylinder 0 to produce the closing of the grippers of the said cylinder 0 to take the sheet. This cam L operates through an upright spindle 34 which is fitted to fixed bearings 35 outside of the framing and which has an arm connected with the said pin, the said spindle being similar to the one commonly used in fiat bed perfecting machines for the purpose of interrupting the operation of the grippers of the second impression cylinder during every other revolution thereof for which latter purpose it is actuated by a cam L (see Figs. 1 and 3) on the side shaft I. The cam L on the side shaft operateson the said spindle 3i through a connection of its yoke rod 38, with an arm 39 on the lower end of said spindle; and the cam L on the tripping shaft operates on the said spindle through a connection of its yoke rod 40 with anarm {it on the said spindle. The said pin 33 is returned to its operative position by means of a spring 42 which surrounds the spindle 3i and which has one end attached to the spindle and the other to one of its bearings 35.

Besides the cams K K L L hereina'bove described on the tripping shaft J, there are also two other cams, viz: one M (Figs. 1, 2, 3'and 8) for throwing the automatic tympan shifting mechanism into operation and another N(Figs. 1, 2 and 9) for throwing out of operation that part of the feeding mechanism by which sheets are supplied to the feeding table B whence they are taken by the grippers of the feeding cylinder B to be given to the first impression cylinder.

The cam Mfor throwing the tympan shifting mechanism is represented as acting upon a lever .43 (Fig. 3) which is fulcrumed on the side framing and which is represented as connected by a rod 44 with one arm 46 of a rockshaft 45 (see Fig. 1) arranged in suitable bearings transversely to the machine, the said rock-shaft'having a similar arm e6 (see Fig. 10) which is connected by a rod 46* with the deviceforthrowingthetympan shifting mechanism into operation. The last'mentioned deviceand the tympan shifting mechanism do not constitute parts of this invention but they may be for example, such as are the subject-matter of United States Patent No. 467,637, dated January 26, 1892, and for the sake of illustration I have so represented them in Fig. 10 with reference to which figure I will describe them as far as is necessary to explain the present invention;

54 designates the web of paper of which the tympan is composed'and which is supplied from a roller 55 and shifted and taken up by rollers 56, 57, 58, all within the. cylinder, the

shifting andtaking up being effected by a spur gear 59 on the roller57 gearing with a stationary gear 60, and the letting off from the supply roller being controlled by a pawl lever 61 operating on a ratchet wheel 62 on the latter'roller.

63 is a'locking lever which locksthe shifting mechanism in an inoperative condition.-

This lockinglever which is fulcrumed on the side framing, is the same as the lockinglever shown and described in the hereinabove mentioned patent and as the intervening mechanism between said locking lever and the feed rollers 56, 57- andpawl lever may also-be the same as is described in that patent, I have not thought it necessary to represent it. The rod 46* is, as shown in Fig. 10, connected with the locking lever 63 by means of a bell-crank 64: fulcrumed on the side framing and a rod 65. When the cam M comes into operation it lifts the .lever 43, rod 44:- and the arms 46 of the rock-shaft 45 and so by means of the rod 46*, bell-crank 64 and rod 65 actuates the lockinglever to set the tympan shifting mechanism in operation.

I propose generally to employ a mechanical feeding apparatus for feeding the sheets to the feeding table 13; but as this apparatus may be of any known or suitable kind and as it forms no part of the present invention I have'not thought it necessary to represent any moreof it than its shafts m n and the gearing for'drivingcthem from the feeding cylinder B which has a constant rotary motion. This cylinder B is furnished with a bevel gear 19 which gears with a bevel gear q on.a shaft q (Fig. 1) which is arranged in suitable hearings on the side framing A and at the other end-of whichis a bevel gear g gearing with a bevel gear g which turns on a fixed stud g on the framing. This bevel gear g has fast to it a spur gear g which gears with a spur. gear m on the shaft m of the feeding apparatus. The shaft q is divided into two lengths or sections which are united by a clutch r 7", one member 0" of which is fast to one of said sections and the other member 0" is fitted to slide on afeather on the other section. A spring 7* surrounds the shaft between the sliding clutch member 1" and a collar r on the shaft and acts to keep the clutch in engagement and the two sections of the shaft coupled. The cam N (Figs. 1, 2 and 9) is for uncoupling the shaft g and for that purpose its yoke rod N* is connected with one arm 8 of an elbow lever which works on a fixed fulcrum on the side framing and the other arm 8' of which engages with the sliding clutch member 0".

the tympan and the tripping shaft- J is thrown into gear with the side shat't,the cam N throws the sliding member 1" of the clutch out of en-' gagement and uncouples'the shaffq' and so produces the cessation of the operation of the gears g g g and stops the supply of sheets.

' Having now described the constructionand separate operations of the several partsof the mechanism involved in the carrying out of my invention, I will now describe briefly the succession of operations for producing the in termissions of the feeding and printingpreparatory to and duringthe shifting .ofthe tympan.

The predetermined numberof revolutions and complete operations of the machine without shifting the tympan having taken place and the tappets 14c, 15 of the tripping gears V-W having come together, the first operation is the liberation of the clutch lever Q and the throwing of the clutch B into engage ment with the gear T on the side shaft I by the action of the spring Q5 which causes the tripping shaft J to make one revolution during the next two revolutions of the side shaft I as hereinbeforeexplained. Then the bed and forms being in their return movement (viz: to the right hand in Fig. 1) and the first impression cylinder C having beentripped" in the usual way by action of the camv S and raised by its springs c c as hereinbefore de-- scribed, the cam K comes into operationbe.

fore the outer end of the first form F reaches either of the first form rollers g g, and the said cam acting through the rock-shaft Y" lifts the gab hook S and so leaves the first impression cylinder lifted and at the same At about the 7 time lifts the said form rollers.

IIO

same time the cam L actingon the upright I shaft 23 draws out the pins 26,27, and so prevents the grippers of the feeding cylinder B from taking the next sheet until the machine has made a complete revolution, or in other words, causes the cylinder to skip a sheet or" miss taking one until the next revolution. When the machine has made about half a complete revolution, the cam K acting.

through the rock-shaft Y lifts the gab hook S and leaves the second impression cylinder i C raised by the springs c c and at the same time raises the form rollers g g of the said cylinder out of the way of the second form F At this time or before the tripping cam lof' the second impression cylinder 0 reaches the pin 33, the cam L acting upon the upright shaft 34 draws out the said pin 33, and prevents the grippers of the latter cylinder from closing at that point where they would take a sheet from the first impression cylinder 0' in the regularly repeated operation of printing. The cylinder 0' has, however, no sheet at this time, it having received nonefrom the feeding cyli-nder B whose gripper motion was tripped as just described. At about this same time also the cam M lifts the lever 43 and throws the tympan shifting mechanism in the cylinder C into operation and as the grippers are left open, the time occupiedin shifting the tympan may be about a whole revolution of the cylinder 0 When the machine has made a complete revolution and the tripping shaft J has made a half revolution from the time when the cam K lifted the gab hook S, the said cam allows the said hook to drop into its operative position, and the cam L which held out the pins 26, 27, will have turned out of the way and will allow the cam L* on the side shaft I to operate as usual so that the-grippers of the feeding cylinder B will take the next sheet. About half a revolution of the machine later the cam K allows the gab hook S to drop into its operative position and the form rollers g g to drop into their normal positions, and the cam L which operates on the upright shaft 34 will have turned out of the way. At this time the resetting cam P operates on the clutch lever Q and takes the clutch R out of engagement with the gear T and the tripping shaft Jstops running. The operation is now completed and the clutch R is locked out of engagement by the locking lever X dropping into the hook 13 on the clutch lever until the tappets 14,15, again meet when the operation is repeated.

It will be understood that by the tripping of the cylinders and the form rollers and the stoppage of the feed as hereinbefore described by the cams on the tripping shaft J, on which also is the cam for throwing the tympan shifting mechanism into operation, all the functions of the printing machine except the shifting of the tympan are suspended during one complete revolution of the machine and that the tympan is shifted during that revolution.

The means herein described of tripping'the cylinders and form rollers when the printing is to be skipped and of controlling the shifting of the tympan may be employed while the machine if fed by hand, the hand feeder in such case not presenting any sheet while the tripping shaft J remains in gear with the side shaft. For a machine which is to be fed by hand and in which no mechanical feeding apparatus is provided, the cams L and N on the tripping shaft and the mechanism through which they operate would be omitted, but all the other cams and operative devices on and in connection with the said shaft J would be retained.

It is obvious that in carrying out my improvement I am not.- necessarily confined to the particular mechanism'herein described for effecting the suspension or intermission of the feeding and printing operations during one complete revolution of the machine in which the shifting of the tympan takes place but that such mechanism may be considerably varied without departure from my invention. a I

Although it may be preferable in carrying out my invention that every time'the tympan is shifted it should be shifted to the whole extent or distance necessary to present an entirely fresh or clean portion outside of. the cylinder, the shifting a part of such distance only might be performed during one such skipping or intermission of the printing asis herein described andthe completion of the shifting performed during another such intermission or skipping.

WVhat I claim as my invention is 1. In a perfecting printing machine one impression cylinder of which is provided with an automatically shifting tympan, the combination with said cylinder,of mechanism for tripping it and means for controlling the operations of said tympan and of said tripping mechanism substantially as herein described whereby the said cylinder is rendered inoperative from time to time during a complete revolution of the machine and the tympan is shifted while the cylinder is so inoperative.

2. In a perfecting printing machine, the combination with an impression cylinder which is provided with an automatically shifting tympan, and a feeding apparatus for said machine, of automatic means for 'controlling at the same time the shifting of said tympan and the operation ofthe feeding apparatus substantially as herein described whereby the feeding apparatus is rendered inoperative from time to time during a complete revolution of the machine and the tympan is caused to be shifted during that revolution.

3. In a perfecting printing machine, the combination with an impression cylinder which is provided with an automatically shifting tympan, mechanism for tripping said cylinder, and a feeding apparatus for said machine, of means for controlling the shift- ;ing of said tympan and the operations of said tripping mechanism and feeding apparatus substantially as herein described whereby the feeding apparatus and the cylinders are ren dered inoperative from time to time during a complete revolution of the machine in which the tympan is shifted.

4. In a perfecting printing machine one of the cylinders of which is provided with an automatically shifting tympan, the combina tion with a continuously rotating shaft and a cam shaft furnished with a cam for throwing the shifting mechanism of said tympan into operation, and gearing through which said cam shaft may be driven by said continuously rotating shaft, of mechanism substantially as described actuated by said continn ously rotating shaft for throwing said gearing into and out of operation from time to time as and for the purpose herein set forth.

5. In a perfecting printing machine having substantially as herein described actuated by said continuously rotating shaft for throwing said gearing into and out of operation as and for the purpose herein set forth.

6. The combination of the constantly rotating side shaft I and the intermittently rotating cam shaft J, the gears T U one fast on the shaft I and the other loose on the shaft J, the clutch R on the shaft I, the clutch lever Q, the spring-controlled cam P on the shaft J and the pushing spring Q for operating said lever and clutch to engage and disengage the loose gear T with and from the shaft 1, the pawl lever X for locking the clutch lever Q, the difierentially toothed tripping gears V N on the shafts I J, the tappet 14 on the gear V and the sliding tappet 15 on the gear W for actuating said pawl lever to liberate the clutch lever, all substantially as and for the purpose herein set forth.

EDGAR H: COTTRELL. WVitnesses:

FREDK. HAYNES, LIDA M. EGBER'I. 

